Location, location, location is the key for psychedelic drugs that could treat mental illness by rapidly rebuilding connections between nerve cells. In a paper published Feb. 17 in Science, researchers at the University of California, Davis show that engaging serotonin 2A receptors inside neurons promotes growth of new connections but engaging the same receptor on the surface of nerve cells does not.

Nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid) significantly reduced the likelihood of hospitalization or death from COVID-19 in people at risk of severe illness, according to new research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

The study, conducted by Ontario researchers, aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of nirmatrelvir–ritonavir in preventing severe illness during the emergence of the Omicron variant.

New adoptive T cell therapies - in which T cells, the immune system's natural hunters patrolling the body for foreign adversaries, are retrieved from cancer-riddled patients, super-charged and amplified outside the body, and then infused back into the same patient - are changing the prospects of cancer patients.

Researchers from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (MPIMG), and the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH) have investigated in detail how BPTA syndrome, an extremely rare hereditary condition, arises. A change in the charge of a protein disrupts cellular self-organization, resulting in a developmental disorder.

The viruses Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) have been linked to several cancers. For the first time, UNC School of Medicine scientists have discovered that these viruses use a human protein called barrier-to-autointegration factor 1, or BAF, to evade our innate immune response, allowing the viruses to spread and cause disease.

A new way to significantly increase the potency of almost any vaccine has been developed by researchers from the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN) at Northwestern University. The scientists used chemistry and nanotechnology to change the structural location of adjuvants and antigens on and within a nanoscale vaccine, greatly increasing vaccine performance.

New research has found some antidepressants may be effective in treating certain chronic pain conditions, but others lack convincing evidence on their effectiveness.

Many people are unaware that some antidepressants (medications used to treat people living with depression) are also being prescribed to treat certain chronic pain conditions.